My wife wants a Mercedes Diesel
 

My wife doesn't like driving our now two year old 1986 VW Jetta and keeps looking at Mercedes 240D and 300 series diesels.

We had a customer in our business this week driving his second 300TD. She really liked the styling and longevity and relative efficiency.

Any thoughts about things to look for in one?

They have some of the most long-lasting light-duty engines and tend to tollerate some abuse. But if you're going to get a 300D/TD, take the EGR out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyCUrJvwVDU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCOAlREmDrI

EGR delete increases the fuel-efficiency, reliability and the throttle response, specially in the turbocharged versions.

Wonderful cars. And very biofuel or WVO friendly, if you've got a steady source.

I owned a 240d. :snail: Go for the 300 and make sure it has a turbo. Also dont be afraid to push the throttle to the floor as well as hold it. When the engine is in the shifting revs it should sound like a tradational chevy 350 engine roaring vs a cummins diesel engine. Also the 81 and earliers dont have over drive, so 3rd and 4rd gear are about the same. The automatics are known for the shifting rods to get out of adjustment. Lastly, if it wont shut off, its because of a piece of broken vacuum hose to the fuel shut off solonoid. :turtle:

Thanks for the responses.
Yep we got a pretty nice 85 300TD. It only had 199k miles.
Here is what it looks like. After driving the vw this drives so smooth.

I only drove it 10 miles and my wife got to bring her home. We are going to drive it stock for a while, see what it does.

http://veloliner.com/mb/mb3001.JPG
http://veloliner.com/mb/mb3002s.JPG
I used to drive caddys and lincolns I think this is just as nice.

One thing I could consider to add would be an all-mechanical cable-operated killer knob, just like some older Diesels, when the stock shutoff solenoid failed.

I managed 32 mpg in mines and that was keeping with traffic. I think mines had hte 4 cylinder 2.4 engine. I sent off the brain box from the cruse control to get it rebuilt so had that working too. I was a member of benzworld, and purchased parts from the benz bin. Interestingly enough having the local dealer service it was economical too, it just took a few days for them to get any parts for it. :turtle:

Rooster, since it was a stick shift, I just let the clutch out and stopped the engine that way. :eek:

Congratulations on the purchase. As far as I know this is the largest MB diesel knowledge base on the interwebs.
Diesel Discussion - PeachParts Mercedes ShopForum

AFAIK the U.S.-spec 300D was available with an automatic transmission while the 240D wasn't...

My 240D is automatic.

US Spec?!?!?!?! Mines was Canadian made. :eek:

I've never seen an automatic 240D. But considering how power-sucker the MB automatic trannies were at that time, it might be slower than a 1.6IDI VW Rabbit Diesel...

I think the reason it was a power sucker was the fact it was also AWD, I recall my father telling me how the wagon model had an automatic and awd. :turtle:

Still its a 2.x liter diesel and if you adjust the tranny to the necessary shift points of the engine and adjust the screw on the injector pump its not a bad performing vehicle.

AWD into an old 240D? I've never seen that. I know there were some versions of the G-Class with the OM616 engine (240GD) but were part-time 4WD.

4matic. :turtle:

My 5 banger will do the ton, nearly, RWD complete with slush bucket tranny

I would doubt that it has had a tune up in years. Should be getting stuff done soon.

@Varn - I love the picture of the 18 wheeler bearing down on the 300TD! I have a 240d and have this experience everyday!

I have done a lot of little things to it. Tune up. including valve adjustment, rebuilt injectors, a replacement glow plug. Filters. Installed a boost gauge to use as economy meter. Have been trying to keep it lower under 5 psi if can on the road.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2c2IhWp15w

Should help the mileage.

On the negative side I put four snow tires on it. We have been driving on snow and ice since before Christmas. It makes the two wheel rear drive pretty reasonable to drive.

We haven't filled the tank for a month It might be all winter before the mileage comes up.

Thanks for the tip on checking glow plugs. I'm also a newly minted 300d owner (W124) and and I'm about to do my first injector rebuilt. I have a spare set of injectors with relatively new nozzles (bosio i think) and just picked up a new old stock Bosch POP tester and cleaning tools I bought from an EX diesel mechanic ($80, what a deal). I read everything I could find online about pop testing and adjusting pressure but any additional tips and tricks are apreciated. The engine is a little smokey at Idle and hard acceleration and louder than other OM603s I've seen. I'm guessing both pop pressure and timing are off.

I am getting the bugs worked out of the system. Starting to get 30 mpg more regularly now that weather is more prevalent and engine is in better tune.

It doesn't seem that mpg is that speed dependent. My test samples are small but I think the increased turbo boost. is helping efficiency almost as much as the increase in drag at higher speed.